Punchcard is a proposal for a membership service targetting freelancers, independent workers and others who do not work in tradition offices. Punchcard membership would give members access to a network of coworking spaces. In addition, Punchcard membership would offer access to an online “dashboard” communications/social networking platform, that appears on members’ computers when they log into the WiFi at a Punchcard location. The platform draws on elements of Twitter, social networking sites, and instant messaging, but is location-based, so that members can see who else is in that space at a given time, and view their profiles. Punchcard platform is meant to facillitate serendipitious interactions between Punchcard members with the goal of potential networking and collaborative opportunities.

The dean of NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Mary Schmidt Campbell, was a special guest during our final pitches. She noted in the post-presentation Q&A that the Punchcard platform could also be adapted to other applications besides networking for laptop-nomad freelancers. She said that something like it could be implemented in a university context to build community and interdisciplinary collaboration between students in different departments.

While team Punchcard will not be continuing on to the next stage of the competition at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, WA this summer, we would still like to continue to develop the project in some way, perhaps in the Stern Business Plan competition in the fall.

2. In concert with JC Cassis @ Arlene’s Grocery
Sunday, May 3, 2009
8pm SHARPArlene’s Grocery, 95 Stanton Street, Lower East Side, NYC
$8 at the door (Make sure to say you’re there to see JC Cassis)
21+
JC will be performing all her new dance-pop tracks off the forthcoming album, Four on the Floor, as well as some old faves.

3. ITP Spring Show 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2-6pm & Monday, May 11, 5-9 pm
ITP @ 721 Broadway, 4th Floor
A festival of interactive sight, sound and technology from the student artists and innovators at ITP
This event is free and open to the public. No need to RSVP

4. I’ll be in Washington DC from May 13-15, and I’ll be in the San Francisco Bay Area from May 15-20 and then from early June to mid-August. Ping me if you want to meet up.

Apologies for the crappy online video quality. The finely-tuned sync of the music and visual elements got knocked a little bit out of wack during conversion to online-friendly formats. The versions on Vimeo and YouTube look even worse, so I don’t recommend viewing them there. Luckily, I’ll get to present the uncompressed version in my Animals class on Tuesday, and JC and I will perform a live version at the Visual Music class concert at Issue Project Room on April 28, at 8 pm. You can also download the M4V version (for iTunes) here, which looks a lot better than the streaming version. Or if you want to listen to the track on the go, download the MP3.

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UPDATE (21 April 2009):
I presented the ODI et AMO music video in my Animals class today. I got some good feedback from everybody. On my to-do list for the next version:

Sort out the audio/video sync issues in Final Cut to make the cuts frame-accurate. I’m meeting with Marina on Thursday to work on this.

Re-record JC’s vocals. Right now, I am using one take for all 3 repetitions of her part. It needs to build up more and have more of an arc. I guess this won’t be a problem for the live version on Thursday, since JC will be singing her diva parts live.

Do something to add some more variation into the “karaoke” text sections – perhaps bring back ODI and AMO characters in some way. I think I’ll need to do some more work in AfterEffects.

UPDATE (24 April 2009):
After talking with Marina today, I discovered that I needed to move my ODI et AMO project from Final Cut Express to Final Cut Pro in order to have total control over the frame rate. I spent this afternoon and evening tweaking the video in Final Cut Pro in order to make the cuts sync more accurately to the music. I also added some extra effects to make the experience a bit richer. The new version is now on Blip.tv and embedded above.

Here are a couple screenshots taken from my upcoming piece, ODI et AMO, a music video/karaoke performance piece I am working on as the final project for my Visual Music and Animals class. JC Cassis will be doing some vocals for the piece, and she’ll be coming over later today to rehearse and record her parts.

I will be presenting the piece for my Animals class next Tuesday, and then to the general public at Issue Project Room on April 28, at 8 pm.

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